Button backed to hit the ground running in Monaco

Button backed to hit the ground running in Monaco

Jenson Button's years of F1 experience and penchant for ironman triathlons are enough for him to take to the Monaco Grand Prix, say McLaren.

McLaren have backed Jenson Button's ability to adapt to 2017-spec Formula One when he replaces Fernando Alonso at the Monaco Grand Prix to such an extent that the Brit will not test the car before Monte Carlo.

It was confirmed on Friday that Button will return to F1 in Monaco as Alonso heads to the Indy500 in a one-off appearance.

F1 drivers up and down the paddock spent much of the off-season in gruelling training camps in preparation for the high-downforce conditions that come along with new regulations.

An F1 test follows the ongoing Bahrain Grand Prix next week, while races in Spain and Russia could offer Button a drive before Monaco, but he is not deemed to need it.

"He drove actually the kind of level of downforce that we had today and, going through the differences of the technicalities to drive this year, we agreed the track layout here [in Bahrain], even running practice one in Barcelona, it will not be very useful.

"He is fit, he is ready and having Oliver Turvey next week in the car is part of our fine-tuning the correlation with our simulator.

"The simulator in MTC [McLaren Technology Centre] is very accurate now and we both believe that it is better for [Button] to spend a couple of days in the simulator driving this car model around the streets of Monaco.

"He is very talented. A world champion.

"He had a long experience in F1 and I can guarantee you by lap 10 of Practice 1 he will be OK."